Croatian Conversations: Language Tips for Travelers

At Experi, we believe a travel experience is infinitely richer when we truly dive into a culture and make the effort to learn about the people and places we have the great fortune to visit. Going out of our way to learn a few phrases goes a long way toward connecting with locals. It shows respect and appreciation while often adding a touch of humor to otherwise tense travel moments. In fact, making the effort to say thank youjust may make someone’s day.

If Croatia happens to be on your bucket list, read on to discover useful Croatian words and phrases and a bit of background on the language. Need an excuse to practice your Croatian? Join Experi this fall for an unforgettable private ship voyage to Croatia’s stunning Dalmatian Coast.

Croatian Language

Spoken by nearly 7 million people, Croatian is a Slavic language. Unlike English and other “analytical” languages, Croatian belongs to the “synthetic” language group which means different grammatical aspects are expressed in one word by changing the structure of that word such as adding an ending or prefix thereby modifying the core of the word. In analytical languages like English, the same is achieved by using separate verbs, pronouns or adjectives while the word itself is unchanged. That said, in Croatian, one word is often enough to express what English can only achieve with multiple words. Lucky for travelers, the spelling of Croatian is largely phonetic so most words are written exactly how they are pronounced.

Now it’s time to try your hand at Croatian. Here we’ll cover the basics, helpful travel phrases, and of course the most important topic: Food & Wine.

Food & Wine

Eating and drinking in Croatia an amazing experience. Or, as the late Anthony Bourdain put it, “This is world class food; this is world class wine; this is world class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia.” Plus, the experience is even better when you know a few words to make a connection with the host or waitstaff.